The other night I stayed up way too late watching the convention, and, feeling lazy, decided the chickens would be OK sleeping on the deck that night. (For some reason my chickens refuse to return to the coop at dusk, unlike the vast majority of chickens worldwide). So at 3:30 a.m. my mommy-powered ears heard a "squawk!" and a THUMP. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs in time to see a black shape slinking off the deck. It was about the size of Olallie (who is a huge cat), but it moved like a raccoon. I was relieved to see it didn't have a chicken in its mouth. I got a flashlight and went to investigate. Dolley was sitting on the deck table, but the other two were gone. After some searching around, I found Abigail in between our house and our neighbor's house, sitting next to a pile of her own feathers, but apparently unscathed. I put them both back in the coop and searched around for Martha. I couldn't find her anywhere, and I feared the worst, but just as I was going to go back to bed she came walking out of some bushes around the side of the house. Phew! We were really lucky. I solemnly pledge never to let them sleep on the deck again. And, not coincidentally, they have avoided sleeping on the deck railing ever since. (But they still haven't found the coop).
3 comments:
Tallis, this one's for you! Thanks fo your comments! - J
Ooooh, close call. I'm glad everyone was OK.
Oh, lucky clucks! Our neighbors just got chickens & turkeys and they make the funniest noises! Their last batch of clucks met an unfortunate end: the husband of the house was not clear on the concept of keeping their beagle separate from the chickens... nuf said. If you lived here, you'd be worrying about not just 'coons, but coyotes and fisher cats, which are the fugliest things ever -- nasty & hungry, too!
Post a Comment